Food Courts, Fake Snow Take Over Cairo

Mall Retail Space Is Sprouting Up All Over the Ancient City

By

Rory Jones

Updated June 11, 2014 5:42 a.m. ET

CAIRO—Just a few kilometers from the ancient Pyramids of Giza, another unusual structure is rising in the hot desert dunes: a 102-foot-high ski slope.

The artificial snow complex is being built alongside Mall of Egypt, a 4.9 billion Egyptian pound ($686 million) mega shopping center that epitomizes a boom in retail development sweeping Cairo. The ancient city is importing a hallmark of American culture that already has been highly...